No cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) have been discovered at Kingston Hospital in the last five years, a freedom of information request has shown.

The Surrey Comet asked the hospital whether anyone had presented or been referred there for FGM-related reasons since January 1, 2008.

Information manager Janice Sorrell McLeod said: “We have had no one presenting at the Trust or being referred here or even being discovered to have female genital mutilation in the last five years.”

The hospital has procedures in place to identify victims of mutilation, she added.

MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee have launched a major inquiry into the practice of FGM to probe the lack of prosecutions of ‘cutters’, or of families who arrange the surgery.

The NSPCC estimates more than 20,000 girls could be at risk from the practice.

 

TODAY'S HEADLINES IN KINGSTON UPON THAMES